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{Straight From the Heart} *The Walk* 5/15/00
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Welcome to "Straight From the Heart!"
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it on to family and friends. If this has been passed along to you and
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I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, so feel free to
write me (Michael T. Powers) and let me know what you think!
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It is with the utmost pleasure that I introduce my Mother-in-law,
Carole Conway-Merwin to everyone! I was so pleased to receive her
story I couldn't wait to share it with everyone on the list.
Carole has been so much more than a mother-in-law to me, and she is
one of the reasons that Kristi and I have stayed together in our 12
years of marriage. Thank you Mom for all of your support over the
years. May you and Bart know that you are loved!
Michael
P.S. Write to her if her story touches you in some way...
P.S.S. Carole's story describes the lane that runs to the woods out
behind her house. Some of you may remember the story Kristi wrote
this past November entitled "The Lane," which also describes this
special place near Clinton, WI.
Kristi's story is a must read and can be found at the following link:
The Lane
http://themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_article.gsp?c_id=58268
Kristi and I both will be posting articles at the above site in the
near future.
And now without further delay, I introduce to you my beloved Mother-in-law!
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The Walk
By: Carole Conway-Merwin
All week long, I had been wanting to go for a walk in the woods.
But upon returning to Wisconsin from my winter home in Florida, there
were other things needing my attention. Days were spent unpacking,
restocking cupboards and frig, mowing the grass and weeding the flower
beds. Finally, late Sunday afternoon, the time had come. My husband,
Bart, and I headed up the lane to the woods for my long anticipated
walk.
We were greeted by the songs of the wood thrush, cardinals, robins and
warblers. The wild geraniums were in full bloom, and the
jack-in-the-pulpits lined the trail. We inhaled the wonderful fresh
smell of the woods as we walked along. The first thing I wanted to
do was check on the massive oak in the center of the woods. It was
by far the largest of the trees, and had been leaning precariously in
the last few years. I knew it would only be a matter of time before
it went down. Rounding a bend in the trail, we found our way blocked.
It had happened. The king of the trees had fallen. I felt sadness as
I looked at the magnificent oak and wondered how many years it had
been there, how many nests and eggs it had held in it's branches, and
how many animals had dined on it's acorns. There was nothing to do
now but turn around and walk another trail.
And then we heard it. A dog was barking at us from within the tangle
of broken branches! Upon closer inspection, we saw a large dog, who
was attached to a post, trapped inside the tangle. He had evidently
gotten loose by pulling the 4 X 4 post out of the ground, and dragging
it along with him as he, also, explored the woods. Bart set right to
work removing branch after branch, and gradually working his way to
the trapped animal. The dog was very happy to see us, and was
straining to get to us. Bart finally reached the dog and as he
unhooked the rope from his collar, the dog stood perfectly still.
Then with a burst of life, the dog sprang from his prison and came
to me to be petted. I've never seen a happier dog in my life! After
a few pats of sympathy from Bart and me, he bounded down the trail.
We called out to him and he stopped, and came back at a full gallop.
He paused for a moment, wagged his tail as if to say "thank you," and
off he went, not to be seen by us again. We wondered at the good
timing for our walk in the woods. We had no idea how long he had been
there, and wondered how many more days he could have survived without
food or water if we had not come along.
As I was thinking about this the next day, I thought of how the Lord
rescues us from our prison of sin. The dog thought he was free when
he pulled the post out of the ground and could run. We are like that,
too. We think we've got it made, and go our own way. We don't need
God. Life is great! But then our load starts to get heavy, the road
rougher, and then we are trapped. There is nothing ahead of us but
death. The Lord will come to us when we call out to Him. If we are
still and yield to him, He will free us from our prison of sin.
However, if we don't stay with Him, and walk with Him, we will always
hunger and thirst. He will free us, and never leave us. With Him,
our walk will be wonderful, and never end!
Carole Conway-Merwin
FarmKelCon@aol.com
Send Carole an email and let her know what you thought of her story!!!!!
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A little bit about Carole:
Although I am a "senior citizen", I'm also a newly wed. I met Bart 3
years ago at a Hospice support group. We had both lost our first loves
after many years of marriage. But that is an other story and I'm
still working on that one! I have been a Florida resident for the
last 2 years, after living in the same county in Wisconsin all my
life, and the same house for 36 years. I have 4 children, 2
stepchildren, 5 grandchildren, and 5 step-grandchildren. I am retired
from the U.S. Postal Service, where I worked as rural carrier.
Bart and I have a wonderful life together, and enjoy biking, swimming,
golfing, spending time with family and friends, and exploring the
woods and waterways of Florida. I've done very little writing, but
remember my high school English teacher encouraging me to do so.
"The Walk" would not get out of my head, so I had to put it down on
"paper." Hope you enjoyed it!
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Note from Michael:
I have always been amazed at Carole's knowledge of birds. She can
see a bird and give you the scientific name for it, what it eats,
what habitat it likes, how long it will live, which foot it likes to
stand on in rainy weather, and so on... Me? I'm more like my
one-year-old Connor. If Connor sees any kind of winged creature he
yells out, "GUCK!" (His word for duck). It doesn't matter if the
bird is big or small, quacks or caws, he thinks it is a GUCK. This
is also the word (GUCK instead of truck) Connor uses for any kind of
a motor vehicle, whether it is a semi tractor trailer, or a matchbox
car. I have often wondered what Connor would say and do if he saw a
truck run over a duck.... Hmmmmmm.......
This also brought to mind the following poem which I had stored in my files.
Hope you enjoy!
Michael
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I woke early one morning
The earth lay cool and still
When suddenly a tiny bird
Perched on my window sill,
He sang a song so lovely
So carefree and so gay,
That slowly all my troubles
Began to slip away
He sang of far off places
Of laughter and of fun,
It seemed his winsome tweeting,
Brought up the morning sun.
I stirred beneath the covers
Crept slowly out of bed,
Then gently lowered the window
And smacked his little head.
I'm not a morning person...
(Author unknown)
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Thought For The Day:
"The world wants your best but God wants your all."
Verse for the Day:
"Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind."
Matthew 22:37
Kid's Thought for the day:
"If you want someone to listen to what you are saying, whisper it."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"Men who have fought in the world's bloodiest wars....are apt to
faint at the sight of a truly foul diaper."
(Gary D. Christenson)
Coach's Thought For The Day
"Competition is the spice of sports, but if you make spice the whole
meal, you'll be sick."
(George Leonard)
Deep Thought For The Day:
"Technology! Technology! The gas pumps of today can pump $25 in
the same amount of time it took just last year to pump $12.50."
_
/_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ / THUNDER27@aol.com http://members.aol.com/Thunder27/index.html
/_/ \ "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
\_\/\ \ Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live for the Son
\_\/ of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Video Imagery (Michael's Video Production Business)
"I thought of you first after my family sat down to watch the video
we gave them. They loved it, to say the least! Within thirty
seconds my mom was crying and my dad did too. They said it was
the best Christmas gift we could have given them!! You did such
a beautiful job! They were so suprised and so touched---they
really, really, really loved it. Thanks for helping to make it so
special to us all. My mom mentioned how the songs were perfect for
the video too! Thanks again!"
Kelli (RKaGe@aol.com) College Station, TX
Let me make you a video from your pictures or home movies!
Check out the web page for Michael's video production business!
Video Imagery
http://members.aol.com/Videoimg/index.html